Ranger Archive
Thread: An Idea for Terrain Negotiation Improvement
I'm new to being a Ranger, and I've tried to read as much of these forums as possible, so I apologize if this idea has been posted before.
I noticed in one of the top issues posts that some people are unhappy about high level Terrain Negotiation only making you move faster while prone. Now I think moving fast while prone is nice for two reasons: 1. your aim while prone, as we all know, is better, so you don't have to stand up if you warp 10m away from your target while prone since you move fast enough, and 2. supposedly /conceal (and maybe /maskscent) does or in the future is going to work better when you are prone then when you are standing up (which makes a degree of sense).
However, I think that there are better uses to the Terrain Negotiation skill. I suggest an entirely new skill is gained at Wayfaring 2 (which is the first skill on that tree where your TN skill mod increases), the skill would be called something like "Sneak." I know there is already a Rifleman skill called "Sneak" so suggestions on the name are more than welcome! Maybe "Stealth" would be better.
What Stealth would do, is cause your character to enter a crouch-type pose similar to a Splinter Cell sort of stance. The player would maintain a low profile, both physically and concealment-wise. You would still only use your legs (not crawling on all fours), but you would be hunched over in an attempt to be silent and keep hidden. This would increase the success rate of /conceal the same way being prone does (or is supposed to do), but would not slow down the player nearly as much as being prone. The higher your Terrain Negotiation skill mod rises from 50 the faster you can move while in "Stealth" mode.
Stealth mode would provide no bonuses to-Hit like kneeling or being prone, but if you are around a large number of aggros (Yavin, Endor, Dathomir anyone?) then using Stealth would increase your chances of sneaking past un-noticed. We may want to think up some negative sides to Stealth, just so that using it doesn't make you invincible or anything crazy. Like perhaps you would become easier to hit while Stealthed. I have also toyed with the idea of being able to instruct group members to go into Stealth-mode, but to a lesser degree, thus making it work a bit like /conceal.
I think this could make things quite interesting and would make the higher Terrain Negotiation skill mod more useful than just moving quickly while prone. I am highly open to suggestions and criticism, so please tell me what you think or what you would improve/change! 
